


Trust (that we won't leave your side)

by amako



Series: ShikaSakuWeek Hanami 2018 [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Blind Character, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, F/M, Gen, Injury, Loss of Trust, ShikaSaku Hanami 2018, Team 7 goes nukenin, Team as Family, like it's a surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-24
Updated: 2018-03-24
Packaged: 2019-04-07 09:40:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14078100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amako/pseuds/amako
Summary: She thinks of his dark skin in the summer heat and the golden sparks in his eyes when they sit before the fire during missions. She thinks of his smirk, of the shogi board they use every night after dinner.“You need to ask Sai to make us custom shogi pieces,” she whispers.“It takes way too long to make custom pieces, I'm not going to bother him with that. You'll be back to normal in two weeks, tops.”She chokes on her tears.“I think you should ask him.”





	Trust (that we won't leave your side)

**Author's Note:**

> ShikaSakuWeek Hanami Day one: Shadows/Lights

There is someone at the door.

She knows, because the hospital floor squeaks underneath shinobi shoes. It did, and now the noise stopped.

Her back is to the wall, the covers up to her chest as she faces the other side of the room. Her hands fist in the fabric and she tries to commit to memory the feeling of fresh sheets on her chafed skin.

Whoever is behind the door, shifts. The floor squeaks. Sakura tenses.

She counts to thirty-two before the door opens and the floor squeaks some more as they approach. She's trying her hardest not to panic, realizing that she never took the time to match a chakra signature to each of her friends. She knows it's one of them, because it feels familiar and comfortable, and she knows it's neither Sasuke nor Naruto because she would recognize those in her sleep.

Then they sit next to her and the smell of cigarette smoke assaults her fragile nose.

Shikamaru, then.

It doesn't help with the panic.

 

“Hello, Shikamaru.”

 

He doesn't answer. She hears him shift again, this time making the chair protest.

 

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

 

Her hands slowly unwraps, freeing the abused fabric. Very deliberately, she lays them flat on the covers and tries to convince her breathing that quickening is not what it wants to do right now.

It's just a hitch. A hard breath. Any other day, she probably would have missed it. It's all the warning she gets before he starts to sob.

Sakura can feel her own breathing become erratic, Shikamaru's tears freaking her out instantly. This time the covers surrender to her strength and she tears and lengthy hole on both sides. At the noise, Shikamaru seems to calm down, his chest heaving.

 

“Pa-panic attack-” she manages to get out, her back bowing until she can wrap her arms around her torso.

 

Shikamaru springs into action, getting the covers out of the way and climbing behind her. He takes her hands and fights her strength for a moment before she regains enough control to slightly relax her muscles. He lays them on her sides, freeing her chest, and her breathing eases.

He puts his palm on her plexus and she focuses on the light pressure, trying to push it when she exhales.

Slowly, she calms down.

Shikamaru wraps his arms around her and she curls into his embrace, cheek pressed against his chest.

 

“I'm sorry.”

 

She grits her teeth and shakes her head, unable to speak.

 

“I should have insisted on coming. The embassy didn't need me that much.”

“Nothing you can do about it, now,” she says with more bite than she intended, and he flinches.

 

“I'm sorry,” he repeats.

 

Sakura opens her eyes and raises her head until she's facing him. The hitch in his breath is back. His fingers press against her chin and tilt her head to the left. She sets her jaw and decides this will _not_ upset her.

 

“Have you talked to shishō?”

“Yeah. She says it's permanent.”

“Okay. Okay.”

 

His knuckles brush her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, her forehead. She does her best not to flinch.

 

“And what do you think?”

Shikamaru takes a moment to answer. “I think that if anyone can fix blindness, it's you.”

 

She nods. She thinks of his dark skin in the summer heat and the golden sparks in his eyes when they sit before the fire during missions. She thinks of his smirk, of the shogi board they use every night after dinner.

 

“You need to ask Sai to make us custom shogi pieces,” she whispers.

“It takes way too long to make custom pieces, I'm not going to bother him with that. You'll be back to normal in two weeks, tops.”

 

She chokes on her tears. Her hand comes to her eyes, to the melted skin around the shrivelled matter in her eye sockets. A swipe of medical chakra is enough. This is not nerve damage. It's the complete lack of anything to fix.

 

“I think you should ask him,” she says, and only presses further into his hug when he starts to cry again.

 

Sakura falls asleep to his rocking embrace, shaken by the sobs he can't seem to keep inside.

 

 

 

She learns to pinpoint the Konoha 12's signatures, and a few other persons. Her hair is slowly growing back, and it itches. She takes a page out of Genma's book and covers her head with her forehead protector, except she lets it fall to her nose so it hides her empty eyes.

She's learning to navigate the streets using her chakra sense. She's not a sensor, but no one controls chakra like she does. It's not that hard for her to mold it into an external armour, so that every time something or someone gets close to her, she feels it and avoids it. It takes an insane amount of chakra, though, so she can't maintain it a whole day.

The practice makes her reserves grow quickly. She thinks bitterly that there isn't much she can do with the amount of chakra anyway, since she's been politely asked to consider retirement.

The night the Council and Kakashi tell her that, Sasuke and Naruto take her to a bar and they get terrifyingly drunk. So drunk that they wake up in a Kiri cell with Mei-sama looming over them (not that Sakura saw her, but the smell of molten lava is enough).

It takes them five days to come back, because Sakura is slow as fuck and she refuses to be carried. Neither of her teammates comment on it and she fiercely love them for it.

Shikamaru is waiting for them at the gates and she can feel the disappointment rolling off him in waves. Naruto and Sasuke don't budge from their place at her side. Shikamaru doesn't back down either, but his chakra takes on a wary taste.

 

“What were you thinking?! We searched for you everywhere!”

“I was fine,” she sighs. “The two morons were with me.”

“Hey!”

“That's no excuse! You can't just disappear like that!”

Sakura frowns underneath her bandana. “Excuse me?”

“The Rokudaime issued a confinement order. You're not leaving anymore, it's too dangerous.”

“Kakashi did what?” Sasuke hisses.

“You can't do that! I've done nothing wrong!”

“It's for your own good, can't you see? You can't defend yourself like this!”

 

Naruto snarls something and she can feel Sasuke summoning kusanagi. Her focus is on Shikamaru's chakra, on the flow Neji taught her to recognize and follow so she could map the shape of a body. She takes a step forward and punches Shikamaru in the jaw. She waits until she hears him crash in the nearest wall before turning to Sasuke.

 

“Carry me home, please.”

 

He makes a satisfied noise and kneels before her. She feels the air a second before finding his shoulders and climbing on his back. Naruto stands guard like the amazing person he is and they both get her home.

That night, they sleep in a pile in her futon and Sakura doesn't question the dark when it hides her tears in Sasuke's neck.

She wakes up to an ANBU at her window and two teammates standing like a wall between the operative and her. She sighs and gets up, extending a hand where she's hoping the ANBU is. They give him a paper and she thanks them briefly, waiting until they're out of her house before giving the message to Naruto.

 

“It's your confinement order,” he says bitterly.

“Gimme that.”

 

She raises it in front of her face, aligned with the open window where she can feel the cold air coming through, and she spits a katon jutsu on the order. Sasuke's hand is on the small of her back. Naruto is holding her hand.

 

“I'm leaving,” she says.

Sasuke tenses. “Meaning?”

“Why, you were such a good influence, Sasuke-kun, I was bound to take after you!”

“You're kidding, right?” Naruto asks.

She grits her teeth. “Not even a bit.”

“Okay. Okay, I'm coming with you.”

“Don't be ridiculous, Naruto. You can't leave, you're a couple of years away from being appointed.”

“Then I can leave for a couple of years!”

She shakes her head. “It's not how it works, you can't just drop everything-”

“Sakura, shut up.” She freezes at Naruto's tone. “I'm coming with you.”

“So am I.”

She swallows. “Alright.”

 

They pack lightly, mainly scrolls with everything they might need inside. Weapons, clothes, pictures, they seal everything. The food, they leave, because it will spoil in the scrolls and they can hunt whatever they might need. They don't stop for a second to think about what they're doing. They can't. Instead, Naruto wraps an arm around Sakura's waist in a casual manner and guides her to the Gates, Sasuke walking next to them.

No one asks them where they're going, because when you're Team 7, you answer to no one and people know that. They simply pass the Gates and enter the forest.

They don't look back.

 

 

 

“Kiri really is beautiful this time of the year.”

 

Sasuke raises an eyebrow at Sakura's comment and Naruto snorts, amused. His arm is thrown over Sasuke's shoulder and he's eating a skewer of the strange version of dango Kiri seems to be fond of. People are looking at them warily. They've built quite the reputation over the years.

The news of Team 7's defection had taken almost three months to reach the rest of the shinobi nations, mostly because Konoha tried its best to keep it under wraps. Unfortunately for them, three months was about all it took Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto to find trouble and get attention in the loudest way possible.

(in Sasuke's defence, the mountain was in his way and Sakura had challenged him to a drinking game: every time someone in the bar hits on Naruto without him noticing, they drink. Sasuke ended up, as they put it, completely smashed)

Word of the three nukenin's travels spread like wild fire. The first contract arrived three days later.

They left Konoha six years ago and haven't stepped foot in the village since. They make an insane amount of money by taking on protection contracts for filthy rich nobles, then spend everything in alcohol (Sakura), food (Naruto) and hookers (surprisingly, Sasuke). Sometimes, they switch.

Sakura is as blind as ever, but six years in a blind woman's shoes have taught her a couple of things. Mostly how to project chakra to feel obstacles. No one dared to tell her you were born a sensor, not made one, and since no one told her she couldn't, she became one.

(admittedly, she does spend a lot of chakra on it, but the perk of being best friends with a jinchūriki is that you never have to worry about your chakra levels)

Team 7 collectively decided that notifying people of Sakura's blindness was stupid, so she makes a point of remarking, loudly, on the beauty of everything she passes by, whether it's warranted or not.

(cue the baffled face of the middle-aged bartender when she compliments the wooden counter for eight minutes straight)

 

“Kiri thanks you for the compliment, Haruno,” Mei says in a dry voice.

 

They all turn to look at the Mizukage (ha, _look_ ) who's sitting at a nearby teashop. With a shallow bow, the three nukenin come closer. Mei is sipping on a sweet smelling cup, looking at them with the same wariness her citizens display, if tinted with amusement.

 

“Mei-sama!” Naruto exclaims happily. “What are you doing here?”

She raises an eyebrow. “You do realize that I don't actually live in my office, right?”

 

Sasuke muffles a chuckle in a cough. Naruto hits him in the ribs. Sakura steps on Naruto's toes and pretends she didn't mean to. It's a normal day for Team 7.

 

“I heard you were passing by, and I thought I deserved some fresh air,” Mei continues without waiting for an answer.

“Right,” Sasuke says. “You just came to say hello.”

“When the three strongest unattached shinobi come into one's village, one can very well decide to check on them. The tea is just a plus.”

“Unattached shinobi,” Sakura snorts. “I distinctively remember people trying to tie us down.”

“If you're referring to the Madame's house, please shut up,” Sasuke says. “If you're talking about Konoha, fuck them.”

“No, that was at the Madame's house too,” Naruto says under his breath, eliciting a giggle from Sakura.

“Well, talking about Konoha...”

 

They all stop laughing and look at the Mizukage, suddenly deadly serious.

 

“I'm not surprised you didn't hear about it. The Rokudaime has been petitioning for your return and he's offered all kinds of favours to the other Kage for information.”

“Why are you telling us, then?”

“Because he's a noisy bastard and I like you all better.”

 

What she doesn't say is that she knows they took an impressive number of pro bono contracts in Kiri from the poorest citizens, and that because of their involvement (and impressive consumption of Kiri sake), they've helped the village's economy _a lot_. Despite appearances, Team 7 is too classy to mention it, and Mei knows when to be grateful.

 

“I don't see how Kakashi thinks he's going to bring us back,” Sasuke shrugs.

“He's posted Konoha shinobi in every hidden city and if you're seen there, they have orders to capture you.”

Sakura does a double take. “You're kidding, right?”

“Not a bit. I know everyone's left you alone because of what you did in the war-”

“You're welcome,” Naruto says with a grin.

“-but you're technically nukenin, so you have a bounty and an arrest warrant in the Land of Fire. They're in their right to come after you.”

“Except I thought they'd be more sensible than that,” Sakura snorts.

“Well, I just thought you should know. Three Konoha shinobi arrived a day before you. If you intend to fight them, please do so outside of my walls. Stone is expensive these days.”

 

Sasuke looks at the Mizukage for a long time before Sakura presses her hand against his side and signs a couple of words. He nods and Naruto smiles brightly.

 

“Well, Mei-sama, we're going to take a walk in your charming village and if we happen to stumble upon a couple of desperate citizens, we'll be sure to to hear them out.”

 

Which is Naruto speech for “thanks a bunch for the warning, we'll take on a couple more free missions cause we're real grateful”. The Mizukage nods and smiles privately, and Team 7 does exactly that. They take three contracts, one of them involving finding a missing four-year-old, and they bring back the girl two hours later because Naruto still has a bleeding heart. They're saying goodbye to the crying family when Sasuke's shadow shudders.

Naruto doesn't miss a beat and drags Sasuke into an alley where no sun is casting their silhouettes on the dust. Sakura follows a second later, once her senses have informed her of Shikamaru's position.

 

“He's not alone,” she whispers. “but I don't recognize the people with him.”

“Which means it's not one of the Konoha 11,” Naruto deduces. Sakura nods.

“You think Kakashi hired mercs to go after us?” Sasuke asks.

“Mei-sama said they were shinobi.”

“I guess we'll just have to see, then,” Sakura says, before snickering.

Sasuke glares at her with a long-suffering sighs. “ _Six years_. Six years of blind jokes.”

 

That's when they attack. Team 7 takes its usual formation, back to back with Sasuke tracking Sakura's movements. They've figured out a long time ago that her chakra sensing technique wasn't infallible and they needed to improve it. Sasuke has become her eyes and she's trained relentlessly until she became quicker than him. He simply tells her where to hit, and she does the rest.

 

“Six, down!”

 

Sakura turns around and stomps her foot, dislodging the man hiding in the ground. She feels the brush of chakra on her right and her chakra scalpel cuts deep into the meat of a shoulder. The voice crying in pain is familiar, and Naruto's “Genma?!” answers that.

The rushing sound of Sasuke's blade is way too close, so she ducks and waits for his indication. She hears him taking a breath, like he's about to shout, but it's another voice that does.

 

“Stand down!”

 

She freezes. She can't help it. This voice was her guide for months, even before she became blind to the world. It's nauseating how much she missed it, no matter how she tried to bury it under new memories.

 

“Genma, Raidō, get back.”

 

Sakura can feel him walking, his chakra so familiar it makes the hair on her arms stand up. Naruto and Sasuke retreat to her side, standing guard and offering support, even though she knows they gave up many things as well when they left the village.

 

“Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke. On order of the Rokudaime Hokage, you are to be taken into custody and brought back to Konohagakure.”

“I'd like to see you try,” Sasuke says with a smirk.

Shikamaru goes on without reacting. “Unofficially, we're offering a contract of occasional employment, effective immediately.”

 

Sakura hears Naruto's surprised intake of breath, and the falter in Sasuke's guard. Her heart is beating too loudly for her to think.

 

“Meaning?” Naruto asks.

Shikamaru sighs. “You won't be citizens of the Leaf, but you'll be granted permanent residency in the village if you want it, as well as a right of passage through the Land of Fire. Our mercenary contracts will go to you in priority and you'll be offered the same rates as the other mercs.”

 

Sakura blinks a couple of time, her eyelids heavy with scaring. She feels breathless.

 

“What do you think, boys?” she asks in a whisper.

“Maybe it's time to come back,” Sasuke murmurs.

The longing is obvious in Naruto's voice. “Home...” Then, displeasure. “What about the restricting order? Will you try to take Sakura-chan back?”

“There is no restricting order anymore.”

 

Sakura takes a step back, the hurt and guilt in Shikamaru's voice so overwhelming she can't possibly miss it. He sounds disgusted, and she knows him well enough still to realize it's his own actions that repulse him.

Surprisingly, it's Sasuke who takes the first step. They follow behind him, as he walks to those people they used to know. They all head toward the end of the alley and Shikamaru cautiously gets closer to Sakura. His knuckles brush her forearm. She swallows and takes his hand. He gasps softly but doesn't say anything.

They step out of the shadows and into the relative light of Kiri's sun.

 


End file.
